Health care reform at any cost

“We don't really believe the government should be in control of all this." Pointing to what he and others have been hearing from Americans -- in town halls since the summer and perhaps most recently in the Massachusetts special election, . . "I would respectfully submit: You're not listening to them." Congressman Paul Ryan

"What's interesting is when you poll people about the individual elements in each of these bills, they're all for them." President Obama said at the Health Care Summit Meeting at Blair House on Thursday February 25, 2010.

The President was taking an attempt at addressing a data paradox that is causing the Democrats a great deal of problems. As the Washington Examiner points out “polls show the public supports some parts of the Democratic national health care reform plan, but adamantly opposes the comprehensive bill now dying a slow death on Capitol Hill.”

As Democrats wrestled with how best to push the ambitious legislation forward, Pelosi said the unusual seven-hour talks on Thursday "made a difference, and it moved us closer to passing a bill… We are determined that we are going to pass health-care reform," said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. That was her response to questions presented by news reporters at an informal news conference by the White House after the Summit’s conclusion.

“It doesn’t matter if a poll shows 75 percent are opposed. As I see it, the only ‘poll’ that counts is the one represented by the election of 2008. Voters who aren’t satisfied with what the Democratic Party does with the mandate they granted us back then can vote against us in the next election.” Said President Barack Obama in reference to the next steps and if they would involve the long talked about Congressional Reconciliation process. After being questioned if the next step was going to be a vote against the people’s will, Speaker Pelosi said that Reconciliation is “after all it is a majority vote.”

At the end of the summit, President Obama said that if he can't reach an agreement with Republicans -- and there's no chance if the existing bill stays on the table -- then "we've got to go ahead and make some decisions." That means jamming the bill through Congress against the public's wishes. And if there's still dispute, Mr. Obama said, "that's what elections are for."

He's right. This is an issue that won't be fully settled until November.

Investor Warren Buffett met with President Obama and it was said he advised the President to “scrap the health care bill and start over”. Buffett was quoted as saying “what we have now is untenable over time,” said Buffett, an early supporter of Obama’s candidacy. “That kind of a cost compared to the rest of the world is really like a tapeworm eating, you know, at our economic body.”

Democratic Leaders are saying there are enough votes to go ahead and pass the bill. Other Democrats are saying the bill cannot pass as is. "The math is pretty daunting," Democratic strategist James Carville told "Good Morning America's" George Stephanopoulos today. "I don't think it's impossible, but it's going to be difficult. This is going to be a real, real fight."

Deficit grew a by 12.5% in past year, the highest in this nations’ history and the Democrats continue to deficit spend. Health Care Reform, as presented in the current Bill, is unfunded and no one group or agency can define what the actual cost will be. The common complaint against Health Care Reform is the spending and then the taxpayer has to be taxed to fund. Americans do not want the national debt to continue to grow because they understand the United States is on the verge of going bankrupt.

Opposition to reform site examples where the government has been unable to run any organization: the US Postal Service, Government funded lending programs - Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac, and Social Security. All of these are operating in the red and have been under multiple Presidential Administrations.

The Tea Party was founded as a result of the perpetual taxation and spending of this current Congress and the Democratic Majority that has been held since 2007. Then two years later came Senator Obama making promises while campaigning for president. “Americans were going to see net spending cuts, tax cuts for nearly all Americans, an end to earmarks, legislation posted online for the public to review before it is signed into law, and a line-by-line review of the federal budget to remove wasteful programs.” Now those same Americans that were let down by so many campaign promises have organized in protest to the run away spending and the deficit.

There is a real dilemma brewing with Congress and the President continuing to force the health care bill down the taxpayer’s throats. Those are the same taxpayers whose throats are already fed up with empty promises and fears for our Country. They are not being listened to by their elected officials and they do not want anymore unfunded programs. Yet the attempts go on and the health care reform is being pushed for passage. What about the budget promise President Obama made that “jobs are to our Number 1 Priority”? The Tea Party will meet in Washington DC on April 15 to once again voice their opinion against “taxation without representation.”

Michigan’s Senator Carl Levin and Senator Debbie Stabenow voted in favor of the Senate Health Care Reform Bill just prior to the Christmas Congressional Recess. It is for the readers to know if they are in favor or not of this monumental bill that will have an impact upon 1/6 of the United States economy and could possibly increase the deficit by up to an additional 4 billion dollars. A debt the United States will have to borrow more money from China and Japan in order to sustain

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Edward Shepherd grew up in Southern California when questioning authority was the norm. Edward earned a BA in Public Administration and completed graduate work in management. He is conservative and has worked in public service, private industry and has been self employed. He lived in California, Arkansas and is now in West Michigan. Edward's interest in politics and those elected to serve has led to his writings. Edward is on Facebook; his email is eshepherd55@yahoo.com.